Application for Licensure Based on Passing the WREB Examination - General Information and Updates

Update: Dental Board of California Acceptance of WREB and ADEX Manikin-Based Examinations

Licensure Eligibility

Prior to applying to the Dental Board of California (Board) for a dentist license, all applicants must:

  • Be at least 18 years of age.
  • Submit a completed application to the Board.
  • Pay a non-refundable application fee of $400.00.
  • Provide satisfactory evidence of having graduated from a dental school approved by the Board or Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association.
  • Provide satisfactory evidence of having passed the National Board Written Examinations. Original score card is required; photocopies will not be accepted.
  • Provide satisfactory evidence of having passed, within the five years prior to the date of submitting the license application, a clinical and written examination that is administered by the Western Regional Examining Board (WREB).
    • To satisfy the clinical and written examination requirement using the WREB examination, an applicant must take and pass the three required sections* of the WREB examination as follows: for a license. The WREB Dental examination consists of three required sections and two elective sections. The three required sections are:
      • Comprehensive Treatment Planning (CTP), a written, computer-based authentic simulated clinical examination (ASCE);
      • Operative, a clinical section; and
      • Endodontics, also a clinical section.
  • Furnish a full set of classifiable fingerprints on fingerprint cards provided by the Board or electronically through a Live Scan service (only available in California).
  • Provide satisfactory evidence of having passed the California Restorative Technique (RT) examination if graduated from a recognized non-accredited dental school.
  • Submit a completed Out of State/Country Licensure Certification Form (only for those who are licensed in another state or country)
  • Successfully complete the Law and Ethics examination.

The Board permits candidates to participate in the Law and Ethics examination pending fingerprint clearance; however, a dental license will not be issued until the clearance has been received from the appropriate agencies.

*The two elective sections (Periodontics and Prosthodontics) of the WREB examination are not required for California dentist licensure. Pursuant to Business and Professions Code (BPC) section 1630, “the examination of applicants for a license to practice dentistry . . . shall include assessing competency in the areas of diagnosis, treatment planning, and restorative, endodontic, periodontic, and prosthetic dentistry.” The Department of Consumer Affairs, Office of Professional Examination Services (OPES) concluded that the content of the three required sections (CTP, Operative, and Endodontics) of the WREB examination adequately assess what a California dentist is expected to have mastered at the time of licensure, with the exception of law and ethics.